The first thing you should do is to conduct as much research as you can. There are some excellent resources available to help you compose a plan of attack. You should also start to learn about the different forms that sugar takes and how it is included in (unfortunately) a majority of the foods and drinks these days. Become an expert at reading food labels. These can be difficult to understand at first glance, but remember that all the figures relate to a specified “portion size,” which is usually rather different from the typical helping that we give ourselves.

Turn to fruit as one of your holistic health solutions. When we were young, we were told that eating an apple a day could “keep the doctor away” and fruit certainly has many additional benefits, minerals and vitamins. The sugar contained within fruits is naturally occurring and will interact with your body in a different way, helping to make you feel satisfied. It should be an early and ongoing weapon in your arsenal.

Processed foods contain added sugars, as this helps to preserve them during the time that they spend in distribution and on display in your supermarket. Even the most basic of foods such as white rice will put you into a low blood sugar cycle and white bread and white potatoes will also have a negative effect. Nutritionists suggest red potatoes or brown rice instead.

You may need the help of your family members or roommates, and while they may not be on the same page as you – not being willing to throw out all their addictions just yet, they should nevertheless become keenly aware of what you are trying to do. Where at all possible, you do not want to see any of those sugar-crave-inducing temptations, especially during the first critical days.

Before you embark upon this challenging, but necessary journey to end your sugar addiction, remember to research and really understand about all those foods that do not contain sugar – those grains, nuts and vegetables and so on. Some of them may be very alien to our traditional Western diet and you may not even know where to look for them in the grocery store! However, if you become very familiar with what they are and how they can be prepared to provide nutritious meals, then you’ll certainly have a fighting chance at sustaining your new healthy lifestyle.

When you realize how much more productive and fulfilling your life is, you may well be upset that you did not adopt an approach to holistic nutrition sooner.

In the last thirty years, the average caloric intake of most Americans has increased by between 150 and 300 per day. It is also true to say that the average American does not “trade” those calories for cardiovascular activities, and thus those calories are not serving any real purpose other than adding to the national obesity statistics.

Rather than take a holistic nutrition approach, we often opt to take the shortcut and go for foods that we know will give us a little “buzz” of activity, thus assuring ourselves that these particular types of food must be good for us. Little could be further from the truth, however and it’s no surprise that the American Heart Association has now set specific limits on the amount of sugar that they suggest we eat or drink per day.

The amount of fructose in our diet, which is widely used in processed foods, has more than doubled since the 1970s. It is estimated that we consume on average more than 22 teaspoons of sugar every day, with young people taking in considerably more, no doubt due to their penchant for those cans of soda drinks. It is apparent that sugar is a precursor to over eating, as its effect on the brain can trigger the body into thinking that it is undernourished and needs more food.

A restricted sugar diet should be part of holistic health solutions considered by everyone individually. It should not be necessary for politicians to suggest additional legislation to discourage us, as is being considered by the city of San Francisco for example, in the form of a “soda tax.”

Being overweight can contribute to many different health conditions and can place considerable strain on your heart and most of the major organs. Obesity is a national epidemic in the US, probably more so than in any other country in the world. It is also linked to a lack of productivity, depression and other illnesses.

The number one thing consumers should do to create a path toward a healthier existence is to start reading food labels. Be particularly careful when it comes to the amount of sugar added to processed foods and always pay attention to portion size. This can be very misleading and almost invariably, the size of the portion of food that ends up on your plate is much larger than the referenced portion size on the label!

Take an individual stance and cut back, as the national sugar addiction appears to be getting worse as each year goes by.

It has been determined that a high concentration of sugar in the blood is likely responsible for cross-linking and any foods that have such a high concentration, such as sodas, should be generally avoided.

Inflammation can also be caused when foods high in sugars, known as high glycemic level foods, are ingested. This process will also release a high proportion of free radicals into the body.

Total holistic health solutions suggest a balanced, if not defensive approach to nutrition as we age. Foods which are known to be problematic should naturally be avoided, but we tend to avoid taking an overall view of holistic nutrition and often take shortcuts due to our busy schedules. It is unfortunate that we often put good health far down the list of priorities, until we suffer an unfortunate wake-up call of some kind. We can deduce from this that we do not prioritize our lives correctly and should put good health and longevity right at the top of the list.

There are enough medical and scientific studies around to show us that the ingestion of saturated fats and high levels of cholesterol are significantly bad for our health and cause premature aging. Sugar may be one of the silent killers, as it is not regarded with such anticipation as those foods which are high in fat. The truth is that sugar has zero nutritional value and has been shown to cause a spike in appetites as well.

Further studies by dermatologists suggest that eating sugary foods can significantly contribute to the development of wrinkles. Once again it is found that when glucose enters the bloodstream it attaches to the proteins used by the body to keep our skin supple and affects their ability to perform. In such situations collagen and elastin are no longer able to help us in our battle against a weathered look.

Aging should be a natural process and we should not contribute to its acceleration. If we were to treat our bodies as a temple and take a much more educated look at what we eat or drink on a daily basis, then we would feel more productive and more able to take on the trials and tribulations that life presents to us each day. Many people preach that caloric restriction extends life expectancy by keeping the flow of insulin in check. Sugar addiction can cause insulin levels to become highly elevated and it follows that we will age before our time, unless we’re careful.